A/N This was not where I saw this going but my Characters were once again being stubborn. I actually like it though but just a warning, if the rest doesn't fall into place the way I want it to it will be edited to give a better flow. Let me know what you all think please?

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Chapter 54 The peacemaker.

Well Arthur thought. That had gone better than they could have hoped. No matter that his council were now acting like spurned lovers and gossiping spitefully amongst themselves. He couldn't help but let out a smirk Morgana would have been proud of at their reaction. Lord Emrys indeed!

Iseldir couldn't have done a better job of showing the men, Merlin's importance and real status if Arthur had taken him aside and coached him in his intentions and his actions. He had known by talking to Gaius and Khilgarrah before he left. That Merlin was held in great esteem by the druid community. Mari's reaction had told him yet more. But until he had seen the deepest bow of reverence reserved only for Merlin he had held no notion of just how much awe and respect the name of Emrys commanded. He had only garnered a nod. Perfectly respectful as a greeting between equals. That mark of obeisance however, that showed where he was placed in their loyalty.

It was humbling to realise that if Merlin had not placed such faith in him, had not believed he was worth fighting for, he could so easily have raised an army of magic users and razed this city to the ground with very little effort. But Merlin had stayed, had believed, had done everything humanly possible to make him see the true worth of magic even as Arthur made his task all but impossible. Had lobbed goblets at his head and called him useless. There would be no more. Ignorance would be no excuse. This was his kingdom now and he would lead it his way, and hope that it was a better one.

The fact that Merlin was still willing to serve Arthur in any capacity the sovereign asked of him would go a very long way toward cementing Merlin's place at Arthur's side and in his affections. They would grumble less at Merlin staying, magic or no if he were recognised as the nobility he was. He grimaced internally at the arguments some of his councillors still held regarding his friend. They seemed more inclined to hate him for his influence rather than the magic he wielded. His untrustworthiness stemming from his being a servant, as if status ever granted a man purity of spirit merely for being born into wealth and privilege. If only.

Oftentimes Arthur had found the opposite to be true. He had been proof enough of that until Merlin had landed quite ungracefully in his life. And Arthur could not be more glad.

He had been a brat.

Uther had loved this kingdom and yes he had passed that quality to his son. But it had been an abstract one. The people had held no importance for him other than being a means to an end. Providers of his comforts but of less significance than his horses or his hounds and with no real right to anything unless he saw fit. It was power without direction and just as dangerous as uncontrolled magic. Possibly more so since you could see the results of magic gone wild. The symptoms of poor decisions in a ruler could be far reaching and all but invisible to the one making the rules. The laws on magic being a case in point. As soon as Merlin had rather foolishly but bravely stood up for the rights of a lowly serving boy, even as Arthur mocked him for it, Merlin had been effecting change. No-one had ever stood before him in such a manner before, and it had made a deeply buried sense of honour he had long thought vanished raise up and take notice.

His council had asked him even as they condemned his friend, why? Why all this for one man. He had told them in no uncertain terms it was not. Merlin had made him see it was not. It never could be.

This was for his kingdom. For Bedivere and Caradoc's aunt. For the girl Morgana could have been or even for that matter Morgause. For the people he didn't know, never would know. Who lived every day under the sword of Damocles waiting for it to fall and knowing there was nothing that could be said in their defence even for existing. Since by his father's laws there was no defence. Those who would heal and those who would harm treated just the same. It was no justice. His council had seemed stunned into silence. He had yet another thing to thank Merlin for. He had found a way to make his advisors shut up and for once realise that he was not in fact a younger version of his father.

And now he was on the brink of something huge and realised he was also doing this for the druids. For a way of life that was a mystery but from everything he had seen, a peaceful one. And for Mordred.

Arthur had remembered the pale boy he had rescued, of course he had. He could not forget the times he had actively defied his father. Especially when lives were at stake.

The gangly seven year old now grown. His pale skin, turquoise blue eyes and dark hair reminding him rather forcefully of his friend. They could almost have been brothers so strong was the resemblance. His effusive greeting of the young man had been followed by a beaming smile that he had known him enough to remember his name. He had promised they would talk later, he wished to know what had happened to the lad he had rescued so long ago. Here, he thought was something good that had come. Something that could be continued and made better.

His reaction to being here had been curious. He had been genuinely glad to see Arthur and Gwen, had asked after Gaius and carefully avoided any mention of Morgana. But when it came to Merlin, who he thought would have garnered the most feeling he had been shy and reticent. Hesitating in greeting him and looking enquiries at him even as Merlin had stared at him in undisguised shock.

It was if Merlin had been looking at a ghost come to haunt him. He had not noticed when Arthur had given the care of the party to George. (An action, that in the past, would have earned him a glare. And a severely sarcastic and angry question, of whether Arthur thought him incompetent and incapable.)

Nor had he registered the looks of almost disappointment on Mordred's face as he looked back time and again as he was led gently but firmly back inside the castle. It was only as Arthur had shaken his arm, indicating the irritated and muttering councillors being held up that Merlin had shaken himself from his distraction. He had followed silently all the way to the royal chambers, and it scared the monarch. Merlin was never silent. Just what had he seen that commanded his attention so thoroughly.

Something was wrong and he needed to know what the hell he was dealing with.

…..

Merlin barely registered that they were back in the king's chambers until Gwen made him sit in the comfy padded chair in front of the fireplace reserved for Gwen's stitching frenzies. He was in shock he realised. Mordred of all people?

It made sense he knew. Amaethon had said that the new Dragonlord's would be ones with magic. He had believed they were here already, that he would find one of the citizens with a secret heritage and scare them witless at their own potential. He had entertained the possibility that one of the druids approaching might have it but never in a million years would he have guessed that Mordred would be one of the party. Or that he would be the one the gods had picked out to be first in the new order. And he had been picked there was no doubt in Merlin's mind of that.

He could tell this was important somehow. That he needed to convince the boy to become a Dragonlord. That the gods expected it. It was why they had made such a point of showing him now. He had to make the connection with Zoelphis.

"What happened Merlin? Everything was fine and then you zoned out on us." The soft tone the king now used with him whenever something serious came up lately had been unheard of before he was cursed. It was a sign of his friendship. Never voiced publicly, until he had been forcefully shown the depths of his loyalty. Now it was in every action. Every word. Every breath.

"I'm fine. Really." Arthur's sceptical expression flitted briefly across his face prompting Merlin to protest. "It's just I saw something I was not expecting. But it's good. It's really good." Gwen's curiosity was aroused and her earnestly enquiring glance just made Merlin want to babble the whole of it out in a rush. "When Mordred first came, he was the first to call me Emrys. I had no clue what he was talking about so I went and asked Khilgarrah. He told me I would have many names, but he also warned me about him. Told me he would unite with Morgana in evil and have a hand in your death." Gwen gasped. How was that considered good? "It was why I was hesitant to help him escape." Shame coloured Merlin's tone. "But he was just a boy and I couldn't not save him. It seems that was the gods plan all along. They…Arthur his destiny has been changed. He can't unite in evil with Morgana because she isn't Morgana any more. But…there must be some reason he has to be connected with her. They wouldn't have done this otherwise!"

"What are you saying? What have they done?"

"Arggghh. Why is it so hard to explain anything?" Arthur was at a loss. Thoroughly confused. Sharing a glance with Gwen merely confirmed that she couldn't work out what this was all about either. Merlin's hands were in his hair again. "All right. All right! Mordred has the Dragonlord potential!" He looked up to find Arthur and Gwen both just gaping at the outburst. A full minute passed in silence before Merlin all but growled in frustration. "This is what Amaethon meant. This is why he showed me how to identify them now. He must have known he would come. And if he took the trouble to point him out, he has to be important somehow. There has to be more to him having the connection than just your death. And since Amaethon and Frige would never see harm come to me it has to be a good change!" They still looked blank.

"Wait. What? Why…how could you be so certain the gods don't want to harm you? And for that matter how would it?" Ah. For Gwen to pick up on just that little tidbit was unfortunate.

"Oh hell!" It was said quietly but no less vehement.

"Merlin? I need to know just what you mean." The warning in Arthur's voice was clear. Merlin was stuck, between a rock and a very hard place. Arthur had become just too observant and would take very badly to yet another lie. He had survived seven years of never giving anything away. Even his secret had never been divulged willingly. And yet in the past two weeks his mouth had run off more times and given way to so many revelations it was frightening. Had he become so comfortable that he was becoming complacent? Or just his friends finally realising there was so much more to him and finally taking notice. Either way it was uncomfortable. And that was just the mild description.

"You don't think you're death would kill me? If you die I fade. They saw it and a god's power of foresight is unrivalled. And I can't! I have to stay. I have a task beyond being your protector. I'm needed. But if you die I lose myself." Merlin's prayer that Arthur would take what he had been given and leave it at that proved unfulfilled.

It was fine as explanations went, even flattering to know he was so loved by his brother. But it didn't answer the question fully, and Arthur had a fair idea that this was what had been bothering his friend since the battle. He looked at him, really looked. And saw the strain and pain, fear, joy, and hope. Such shining hope. The confusing mix not helping him make sense of anything. If there was a potential Dragonlord running around with a destiny that would see him dead it was of concern to the kingdom and Merlin had promised. Anything to do with his realm's safety he had to know.

"Merlin why are you so sure of their motives?" It was said quietly with Arthur kneeling in front of the chair Head lower than Merlin's for once. Earnestly trying to understand, the answer when it came was even more faint. Barely even a whisper. But it explained so much. It explained everything.

"Because…according to them…I'm their son."